×

Posted on

Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Setting up a website and e-commerce platform (Part 2)

Category: Growth Hacks

Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Setting up a website and e-commerce platform (Part 2)
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Setting up a website and e-commerce platform (Part 2)

The next process involves setting up the online e-commerce portal. Developing an e-commerce website from scratch involves the following steps: obtaining a domain name, roping in a web hosting provider, integrating a payment gateway, a platform to build the online store with product listing, initial capital to fund the manufacture of products and packaging the final product for delivery and shipping.

Web Hosting service and registration of domain name:

What’s in a name? A lot actually, especially if it’s a domain name. It’s important to choose a suitable, available domain name for one’s business or brand. Some tips in selecting a name are:

  •  The name should be connected to the business line: Its best to pick a name that gives customers an idea of the product offerings. The name should clearly highlight the focus behind the online business. In case of an unrelated name, the e-commerce business would have to invest significantly in marketing and branding initiatives to win customers mind share and have a better connect.
  • A short name is easier to remember for customers. It would also result in fewer word entries and hitting the correct website in no time. This might improve visits to the web page and enhance sales conversions.

Registration of the domain name: Having zeroed in on the domain name, one needs to register the same via a domain registrar by paying the requisite fees.

Selection of the e-commerce solutions: This is the crux of the entire e-commerce business. The e-commerce solutions depend on the following parameters i.e. type of platform, size of the business, desired features and budget.

Type of platforms: The following are the two available platforms:

  • Self-hosted solution: These are open source platforms by which the one would have to set up, host, run and maintain the online store with the help of a technical developer. There is considerable flexibility as regards the features, customizations and options in this case. They require advanced technical knowledge as the design needs coding in order to be implemented. While the software is free, there are costs towards server fees, development and maintenance fees and hiring skilled labour.
  • Fully Hosted platforms perform the functions of setting up, hosting and maintenance. These are easy to understand and use. Even non-technical persons can create a website on their own in this option. There are easy drag and drop features with sample templates and in-built key functionalities like stock management, marketing and other presentation tools. The platforms include a fee towards subscription and is influenced by product, user and sales volumes, desired features etc. The updates or feature release will be entirely dependent on the solutions provider. The merchant has limited options as regards customizations and would have to opt for the existing themes.

Evaluation of options: Its best to research the pros and cons of both the options before taking a decision.

  • Trying it out: It might be a good idea to opt for a demo version or free trail period to confirm the quality of the interface and the reliability of the platform. One can even list a few products and gauge the customer response. Alternatively, one could browse the site and judge the speed and response rate.
  • Communicate with the sales team: One can also discuss one’s specific requirements with the solution provider and get an understanding of the process and support services.
  • Check the track record: It would be prudent to obtain feedback from a few merchant clients as to their satisfaction with the e-commerce platform. Often social media provides useful reviews on a particular solution and help take a decision.

Evaluate the features on offer: It is advised to consider the additional capabilities being offered like SEO optimization, brand building via social media etc.

Integration with add-ons: Often one may plan to integrate the portal with a payments gateway, accounting software or logistics and shipment facility. The platforms must support such external add-ons and continue to function smoothly.

Establishing the e-commerce website is a highly technologically intensive stage and most important stage of an online business which could impact the success of the online business model. In case you want to have an operational site in a quick turnaround time, it is best to opt for hosting platform. However, if one wants to customize a site and adopt a gradual site building approach, the open source solution might work better. In continuation with this series, we shall discuss the next step i.e. the crucial money matters. In other words, the selection of the appropriate payments partner to ensure timely and smooth customer payments.

5 years ago
Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Choosing an Industry, Product and process (Part 1)
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Choosing an Industry, Product and process (Part 1)

With higher Internet penetration levels, jumping into the online e-commerce bandwagon is fast becoming crucial for business survival. A recent estimate by eMarketer puts the online sales opportunity at over $27 trillion in 2020. Thus, any prudent sellers cannot afford to miss out on digital selling and opt only for the brick and mortar store given the huge market size, cost savings, access to a wide customer base and low barriers to entry in the online route. The e-commerce business is clearly here to stay. In this series, we shall explore the simple four- pronged approach to successfully launch one’s first e-commerce website right from start to finish. After you are through this series of articles, you’d realize that setting up and running one’s e-commerce site is no rocket science at all!

Choosing an Industry, Product and process

The products listed on an e-commerce site are its mainstay. Thus, it is important to zero in on the right industry group, list of product categories to be hosted on the website and the process of delivery to the final customer. The following are useful points to determine what inventory to sell and how to source the merchandise:

  • Research your niche: A good starting point would be to pick a competitive industry and identifying the successful players. This would ensure there is already a sizable customer base with latent demand to tap into. Alternatively, one could pick what’s on popular listing or a category with multiple keywords and trending on social media. Another approach would be to select what’s one’s liking and has experience in. After all the success of a business depends largely on the degree of commitment of the entrepreneur. Its highly likely that one would be more involved in a business vertical that one is interested in.
  • Source products: In case you are not keen on in-house manufacturing, you could also obtain inventory from other manufacturers. There are two options in this- either stock inventory or dropship the products i.e. ensuring direct product delivery from the manufacturer to the customer.
  • Contacting the suppliers: Having decided the products to be sold online, its imperative to find the suppliers of the products. In case one decides to host readymade merchandise or manufacture products, suppliers of the final goods or raw material sourcing is vital. Some popular routes include looking up online directories or searching for suppliers on the websites of trade organizations. For a more personalized approach, it might be a good idea to visit seminars, trade shows and similar events in one’s city to touchbase with potential suppliers. In case one already has contacts in a particular industry segment, it might make sense to go by referrals. Lastly, using social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook one can post an update or requirement or enter discussions in related groups, which might help win vendors.
  • Shortlisting suppliers: Having created a list of potential suppliers, its important to communicate and negotiate the terms and conditions. This would ensure no future misunderstanding as regards payments or wrong product delivery or description. It is also advisable to read supplier reviews on other websites to gauge their service quality. The following are some of the important parameters to be evaluated:
    • Terms of payment: Whether the vendor accepts cash on delivery, net 30 days, net 90 days or advance system
    • Minimum order requirements: Some suppliers mandate bulk purchases
    • Cost estimate: In addition to the cost of the products, vendors would charge for shipping, packaging and handling fees.
    • Insurance cover: Most suppliers insure the products against liability arising from product recall, damage during travel, malfunctioning etc.
    • Non delivery or late delivery: One must be aware of the vendor policy in respect of undelivered orders or late deliveries, so as to avoid souring business relationship with one’s customers.
  • Prepare a viable business plan: Having discovered your niche, zeroed in on the products, studied the profitability and demand potential and sourced the suppliers, its important to study competition and develop a feasible business plan. This would help differentiate oneself from the peers and win sales conversion. The business plan should cover diverse scenarios of base, best and worst case, with strategies to win new customer leads and grow traffic and to have a backup plan to keep the e-commerce business up and running throughout.

Now that you have the broad guidelines of starting an e-commerce in place, its crucial to move to the ‘tech’ aspect of setting up the online portal. We shall discuss the finer nuances of setting up a website and e-commerce platform in the next article in this continuing series.

5 years ago
Top Five Online Payment Trends to Look Out For in 2019
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Top Five Online Payment Trends to Look Out For in 2019

As e-commerce continues to grow, the robustness and security of online payment systems becomes an important concern. More and more people are now buying products and services online, exposing their highly sensitive data. In order to provide a secure and efficient experience to online buyers, it is important to look at the following online payment trends.

  • Mobile Payments Reign: As mobile shopping trumped browser-based shopping, it seems like the same thing is going to happen in the case of online payment segment as well. As more and more people are using mobiles for their shopping and internet browsing, payments from mobile phones are increasingly becoming the norm. Consequently, there is also an increase in mobile payment scams as evidenced by the proliferation of mobile phishing sites. It has become imperative for online payment system providers to be aware of this trend and take remedial measures accordingly.
  • Massive Data Breaches Become Commonplace: The use of Artificial Intelligence and bots makes it easier for hackers to undertake massive data breaches. Stealing information from a large number of accounts simultaneously is highly lucrative for criminals and they are using increasingly sophisticated technologies to undertake such attacks. In order to protect the users, it is important for the websites and payment gateway providers to ensure that their information is safeguarded appropriately. For this purpose, they may go for security audits, Blackbox practices, and social engineering.
  • Apps Go Rogue: As mobile internet grows, so do the mobile apps. Hackers are now increasingly focusing on these apps to steal data and financial credentials. It is believed that there is surge in the number of rogue mobile apps which are designed with the sole purpose of stealing data. App stores have yet to wake up to the threat of such malicious apps. However, lately there has been a spurt in the number of apps getting banned or kicked out of app stores for containing malicious codes.
  • ATOs Proliferate: Account takeovers are becoming common in online payment systems. Account takeover is a type of data theft where a hacker uses bots for gaining illegal access to a victim’s online payment account. Such compromised accounts may then be used for theft or for unauthorized purchases. As technologies improve further, it is expected that such ATO attacks will become more commonplace and more sophisticated at the same time.
  • Focus on Behavioral Biometrics: To provide a secure online payment experience, the providers mainly rely upon their authentication systems. In order to keep up with the emerging trends, it is important for the providers to incorporate new changes in their authentication process. One such emerging trend is to use behavioral biometrics for identifying potentially risky accounts. Any sudden change in behavioral biometrics of an account may also indicate that the account may have been compromised. In such cases, swift remedial actions may be undertaken.

Overall, it is safe to assume that service providers are becoming increasingly aware of online payment security threats. Analysis of emerging trends allows them to design new policies to effectively counter such threats.

5 years ago
How technology is changing our shopping experience
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

How technology is changing our shopping experience

With growing customer expectation, e-commerce retailers are being forced to constantly innovate and raise the bar. Further, with shopping enabled through the digital platform, without the boundaries of time and place, merchants need to ensure that the customer engagement channels are continuously open. We shall now study how technology is changing the rules of the game and redefining customer experience.

  1. Anytime shopping: Today’s online shopping is all about convenience. The customer can log on to an e-commerce portal, browse and compare product specifications and pricing, and even virtually try on clothes. They can add items to the cart, make the payment through the payment gateway and check out. All this is achieved within minutes, from the comfort of one’s home. The entire shopping process from start to end i.e. researching the product till the final purchase is possible digitally any time of the day or night and can be concluded swiftly.
  2. Smart devices for smart choices: The modern customer leverages upon cutting-edge technology to make sound purchase decisions. Often, e-commerce sites have subscription services whereby the items are delivered to the customer’s residence on a regular basis without any reminder by the customer.
  3. Real-time, uninterrupted support: The merchants need to constantly stay connected with the customers even post sale. This is vital in order to ensure returning customers. This can be achieved with chatbots that would readily answer customers’ queries and enhance their satisfaction.
  4. AI to derive insights: AI can be used to analyse customer spending patterns, study outliers and derive business intelligence. This can be applied to improve service levels and provide customized options, based on the unique needs of each customer. This would ensure lower chances of sales returns. A Gartner study estimates that by 2020, 85% of customer interactions would be handled by AI.
  5. Smooth payment process: Imagine you finished shopping at a huge mall and had to spend a lot of time searching for the payment counter! Frustrating isn’t it? The situation is similar to a customer entering the e-commerce portal. The customer should be able to easily navigate through the website to the payment gateway, complete the transaction and check out in minimum time. The payment gateway should be integrated with the website. Being directed to an external website for payment is a big put off for the customer and can cause cart abandonment. Further, there should be a choice of multiple payment options with personalised suggestions to opt for saved cards. In the e-commerce business, every click counts!
  6. Secure payment processor: This is not a feature anymore, rather an absolute necessity. The online payment platform must maintain confidentiality of customer information and card details. This is reconfirmed by adherence to global security standards like PCI DSS V3.2 Service Provider Certified.
  7. Customer reviews and loyalty programs: With fierce competition in the online shopping space, it is vital that merchants enhance customers’ shopping experience. For example, a product could have reviews of happy customers who have used it. This would help the hesitant customer make up his or her mind. One could also ensure that the product return process is simple and clearly mentioned. To win customer loyalty, merchants could include shopping points that could be redeemed as a discount on the price or a free product of the customer’s choice.
  8. Intuitive website: An interactive website with a seamless shopping experience can go a long way in higher sales conversions and customer retention. The webpage as a pop-up could guide the customer as to the further steps till the final checkout. This would facilitate the customer to stay within the website and not move to the website of a competitor. The chances of a sales conversion become higher, the longer an e-commerce portal is able to retain and keep the customer engaged within its webpages.
  9. Knowledge bytes: A customer who has complete know-how of the product would be in a better position to appreciate its value proposition and quality. Thus, the chances of achieving a sales transaction is better in case of an informed customer. Merchants can include a knowledge centre page within the website to enhance the shopping experience. All the information about a product and its utility should be available at a customer’s fingertips.

Technology is fast rewriting the shopping experience. Thus, merchants need to keep an ear to the ground and provide e-commerce solutions as per evolving customer requirements and technologies.

5 years ago
How to provide a local flavor to your global ecommerce business
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

How to provide a local flavor to your global ecommerce business

Think global, act local is the new success mantra for e-commerce players operating internationally.

Localization of one’s global e-commerce business is the best strategy to transcend cultural boundaries and win customers’ trust (and wallet share!). Although e-commerce has wiped away the boundaries of time and place, cultural differences play an important role in customer perception. Often, small changes like localization of language and content can help connect better with the customer. We shall study the ways in which the localization strategy can be effectively implemented:

  1. Speak the same language: One must be aware of the cultural sensitivities of each region before going gung-ho and translating the entire website into the native language. For example, in some regions, an informal address might be acceptable to the customer. In others, a polite and formal tone sends across the message of being business-like and professional. Customers are likely to be impressed with product descriptions in their regional language or websites hosted on country-level domains. Often, there are websites that support multiple languages. One needs to select the country name from a drop down menu and the entire website is customized as per local tastes. However, it is important to note that the meaning should not be lost in translation!
  2. Win at social media: Unless one has been living under a rock, an active social media presence is a must. Effective communication and posts as per regional interests would help easily win potential customers. One should not stick to global platforms like Twitter and Facebook merely. There would be other mediums that would be able to catch the pulse of the local public better.
  3. Reviews by natives: It would be a good idea to include reviews by the natives in the regional website. The readily available peer reviews would convince other customers about the quality of the product. This would result in higher sales conversion.
  4. Utilize local festivals to one’s maximum advantage: This strategy works well in a country like India, where festivals are celebrated on many days in a year. Major e-commerce players like Amazon, Flipkart have successfully adopted this strategy. They offer special discounts for Diwali, Republic Day, Holi etc, which results in phenomenal volume growth in sales. Further, offering customized products with marketing material suited to the occasion can help boost revenues. Thus, one could capitalize on special shopping days by working with local marketing agents to achieve higher sales.
  5. Payment processing in local currency: Customers would prefer to pay in the local currency. Merchants should ensure that the payment gateway supports payment in home currency. Another idea would be to have a flexible shopping cart with a currency converter. The online payment platforms could also offer multilingual support. It would be prudent to have multiple payment options as the preferred and acceptable payment modes vary from region to region.
  6. Familiarity as a branding strategy: Localized content and hosting products that are popular in the target market would help the customer easily navigate the website. Thus, the purchase decision and transaction completion would be faster. A smooth checkout process would ensure repeat customers for further buys.
  7. All-in-one adaptation: One must remember not to restrict localization merely to linguistics or language translation. Localization strategy encompasses the entire gamut of content – text, pictures, currency, delivery channels, brand building, design and cultural alignment. The last would include aspects like avoiding selling products on the e-commerce website that hurt local sentiments. Researching the local market to create a native shopping experience is key to achieving success.
  8. Know the rules: Local regulations on consumer laws and data privacy should be considered before localization of the e-commerce platform. For example, some countries mandate the use of a privacy policy and a disclosure of cookies that store customer information. One must keep in mind the local taxes and other jurisdictional requirements that are to be complied with in the payment gateway process.

Localization of the e-commerce business, operating globally, would allow the message to go across clear to the customer, enabling higher sales conversion, beating competition and reaching out to a wider target audience.

5 years ago